A touch of Highland hospitality comes to Beeston

Yesterday we went to new Thistle Teahouse for a light lunch in the company of close friends. I had met Maggie, the owner, some weeks ago whilst she was getting the Thistle ready to open and a week or so ago I re-produced her menu cards. This time my pics are of food:

Flat Scottish Sausage on toast with two poached eggs on top and a cheese baguette. See if you can guess which is which?

My friend Rosie was impressed with the 'Hotel toast' Maggie gave me. In her opinion, which I value, it should be 'Soft when you bite into it with a crisp crust' and this did it to near perfection. In my case old age has brought with it bowls which can no longer tolerate rye bread, be it home-made or shop bought (I used to make it, now I buy it for Susan from Birds on Beeston Square by the traffic lights).  When it comes to poached eggs I have to have them when I see them on a menu and I could see Maggie making them in her very impressive high-tech kitchen. Touched the yolk spilled over the toast and the square Scottish sausage. It really was a sensuous experience. Then the sausage, deliciously salty and tasty. Salt is something I rarely use at home, except when having boiled eggs, but sometimes it is part of the food and this was one of those occasions. Numerous cups of weak black Earl Grey (I have to be able to see the bottom of the cup) did their job and it took me a good 30 minutes to consume the treat that Maggie had placed before me.

Susan and Paul got on with eating their baguettes whilst I photographed Rosie's cheese baguette which came with a small bowl of crisps (I traded a quarter of sausage for some of Susan's crisps, the first this year). After eating her baguette Rosie and Susan had no room for cake, so we all agreed that we would come back for Maggie's afternoon tea nearer Christmas.

In the meantime I will be going in before too long, probably next week, when Susan's goes to the opera with a friend, for a takeaway Flat Scottish sausage & Black Pudding roll. I left the Black Pudding off my order yesterday because Rosie doesn't eat meat and the Black Pudding would have been too much, not that Rosie would say of course. Her husband Paul and I share a passion for sardine sandwiches but that's another story...

Maggie declined to have her photograph taken and I understand why and, quite frankly, it doesn't matter! Maggie's food and her menu tell you that this a woman who wants to share a love of Highlands hospitality with Beeston.

In my book Maggie is up there with Jo at the Local Not Global Deli on Chilwell Road and Rosemary at Rosie Lea's Tea Room on Wilkinson Avenue. None of them on the High Road but worth the extra few minutes it takes to reach them if you're starting from the bus and tram Interchange, although in my case I walk past the Thistle and the end of Wilkinson Avenue on my way into town (sometime I go via Marlborough Road to avoid them).

Stop! I must be bloody mad! All three establishments are quite small and if you start going I will have to make sure I get there first.

Seriously, a small select bunch of Beeston's best. Each have their strengths. Next week I promise three pics, one of each, from my archive, so 'Watch this space' as they say.

As we left after 150 minutes Maggie was telling me about her 'must have' 'Gin and tonic tea', full of so much enthusiasm that I will have to try it on my next visit...

A Beeston picodyssey

You might wonder if a walk along Beeston's shopping streets can be described as a 'picodyssey'. Well on a day like today, walking through the rain trying to avoid puddles I think it can. Over 100 photographs to look through, none better than the first taken where my odyssey began and ended, from the window of the Local Not Global Deli on Chilwell High Road, opposite Imperial Road where I sat and drank three cups of coffee until the rain let off enough.

The day is all part of my preparations for creating a new 'mosaic' style Beeston 'vertical map'.

Life is galloping by. It's over a month since my last post to which I have yet to add captions. I will soon. I promise.

This post will also get some more pics together with a draft of my new icons:

Walking wear to bags and and my favourite relish

I spent an hour the past Wednesday afternoon drinking tea and eating divine cake full of large chunks of crystallised ginger which filled the mouth after every bite with childhood memories of Tate & Lyle black treacle. Jo at the Local not Global Deli is a star. I took two slices home with me plus a bottle of Henderson Relish, about which there will be more later. I also did some writing. Stories are often prompted by location and cafés are great starting points.

If I had the time I would blog about no more than Beeston and what it has to offer. It keeps me happy. Oh it has its little frustrations, but everywhere does in my experience.

A year ago this month I had intended to visit a new shop about to open in the original Mish Mash Gallery shop, but tiredness was then beginning to creep over me and I had little energy for anything. I was close to becoming an invalid as I waited for open heart surgery to repair a faulty aortic heart valve I had lived with for 73 years. The operation took place on 27 February this year and was a complete success. Most days go by without me giving it a thought. I go to Chilwell Olympia twice a week to attend cardiac exercise classes, which I enjoy, then there's the shopping, the cooking and the garden (Susan and I share the chores). My family have become more attentive and I enjoy that. I have friends I don't see as often as I wish, stories I write, I want to write and to type up, then I want to walk more. So I could go on, suffice to say that my days are full and enjoyable, apart from the fact that it is now Susan's turn to have health problems. I simply cannot do everything I want to and I have to pace myself. My doctor has advised me 'to slow down' and, as Susan says, I listen to her, and she's right. Anyway, about a month ago I finally went into Base Camp on Chilwell Road to have a look around intending to post this piece within a couple of days, but I didn't! So apologies to Basecamp for being so late(reach their Facebook page vis the Mish Mash Gallery - I don't do Facebook).

The shop is a bit like a tardis, far more inside than you would think possible from the outside. It specialises in high end outdoor clothing, shoes and leisurewear, but there were some good offers the day I was there. Having bought a new lightweight down stormproof winter coat from Jack Wolfskin in the last month I thought Basecamp prices were comparable.

The owner of Basecamp was his travels the day I visited, but the person in charge told me that all the crockery and 'home extras' (my phrase) on display and for sale had been found by the owner on his travels. 

If you're looking for good quality outdoor gear then Basecamp is worth a visit. Even if you're in search of a bargain. Go and see for yourself, then drop into the Mish Mash Gallery and end up with a coffee and a waffle in Froths, which has re-branded itself The Froth Waffle House.

NOW THAT RELISH!

On one of the family visits recently we all went down to The Last Post for Sunday lunch. Six grown-ups and we got a table at 12.30pm (the rush began not long after). The service was good, so was the food. Weatherspoon's falls into the 'reliable' category. Its portions are good and usually come to the table hot. The chips are crisp and fluffy, which is good, but a little too salty for my taste, but 'over seasoning' is something all too many eateries and restaurants are guilty of. However, what got them 5 ✮✮✮✮✮s was this:

Henderson's Relish!

I grew up on Worcester Sauce in Wembley. It sat on the table every meal, put on toast, cheese, fish, soup you name it. Susan thought when she met me that I 'murdered' some of my meals with the stuff. Pop, my grandfather, was a great fan. In truth I limited myself to soups, Welsh Rarebit and Fish 'n' Chips.

Then in 1975 I moved to Mansfield to live with Susan and my boss at the time suggested that I base myself in the charity's Sheffield office. That is where I was quickly converted to Henderson's Relish — a more subtle taste than Worcester Sauce. So for a good few years we had both relishes (for that is what they are) in the house, but when the charity left me in 1983 my Sheffield days came to an end and eventually Henderson's Relish disappeared from our larder when my supply run out, occasionally replaced when my new job took to me Barnsley, as it did every few months.

Henderson's Relish came back into my life big time when the Local not Global Deli opened and I was an early user, years before we moved to Beeston, and, there, there, on a shelf for sale was, yes, Henderson's Relish! In the end it replaced its rival completely, which I now only use when out, although few places have Worcester Sauce. let alone Henderson's Relish. I particularly like it on Fish 'n' Chips and cheese on toast. I know I've said that already, but I like it so much it bears repeating.

Weatherspoon's Beeston Last Post is the first place I have ever found outside South Yorkshire, on the table or available, Henderson's Relish, so I will be going there for more meals (Worcester Sauce is something you always have to ask for and, sometimes, the kitchen will let you use their bottle, standing over you as you do. This act tells you that Worcester Sauce is more treasured than truffles because the latter they allow you to eat alone).

If anyone from The Lost Post reads this, I beg you to make sure Henderson's Relish is always, always, available.

IQUAZU BAGS FINALLY GET THEIR MOMENT

Another shop I like is Iguazu. When I can't get to Five Leave Bookshop in town (as I think of Nottingham City Cente — a hangover from my Wembley days which ended 51 years ago) I usually buy blank cards from them for letter writing.

In the window there was this notice (see below), but it wasn't until last week I finally went into see what was new for myself.

I left with some goodies, three presents for family and friends. The bags at £6 I thought a good buy. I've been using a similar bag from the Eden Project in Cornwall for well over then years, so I know how well they last. The socks are made from Bamboo. Until I saw them I didn't know that Bamboo was used to make clothing. My feet are size 12–13 and had Iguazu had them in my size I would have a few pairs for myself. They felt lovely and have beneficial properties which makes bamboo better than cotton. My daughter is going to be the lucky recipient of the socks in the photo.

Oh I could write about recent visits to Beeston shops, but there will be other mornings to blog I am sure. 

The week ahead has already filled up, so invites I intended to make or accept are on hold until I have 'a window' free. What was the doctor said about 'slowing down'? No doubt the nurse will remind me next week when I go for my half-year 'oldies' check-up.

Another year, another day, so we begin again

Several folk have commented on my decision to pull the plug on Beeston Week and yesterday, after Susan and I spent the morning on a long wander around Beeston, I decided to continue, but without the pressure of feeling the need to do weekly posts. From now on they will come as the mood takes me.

Mish Mash will morph into One Off in a few months time. In readiness for the change, the gallery front has had a makeover. More nearer the time. For now, just enjoy how the gallery sparkles at night. Still the best place in Beeston to buy that special card you are looking for. RH.

Yesterday we walked from our home off Wollaton Road to the Local Not Global Deli on Chilwell Road (opposite its junction with Imperial Road), where we had long slow coffees with some of Jo's delicious chocolate cake, then onto Fabric Place, which was closed, but never mind we were going to the Mish Mash Gallery anyway, where we chatted with Gary and two other folk, who followed us down from Jo's.

Then it was back towards Beeston and a visit to ArtWorks, opposite the Local Not Global Deli, where we bought some more bits and pieces, then a visit to a very empty main post office with a parcel. I have never been in there before and seen staff sitting at their counters waiting for customers. Hallams had queues longer than Christmas, yet we walked into an empty Barnsdale Butchers and came out with a fine shoulder of pork for today's lunch, when we are being joined by old neighbours and close friends from Lenton.

A final call at Out of this World on Villa Street, then back up the Wollaton Road and home. Four hours in all.

We dined on lettuce sandwiches after eating cheese from Jo's every day for nearly a week. The best cheese in Beeston. Her secret is to stock not too much, but what she does is good, very good. It's the same with her pale ales. On any other Thursday, I would have come home with a thermos full of her pork goulash, but we had a chunky homemade golden vegetable soup waiting to be finished.

In all this you have a clue what Beeston Week is morphing into — the 'topical' has gone from my strap line. Contemporary affairs will be left to others. OK, there may be the odd foray and there will be buses, always a topical subject to some, but for me they are a lifelong source of joy and pleasure, nerd that I am.

For me, 2016 is going to be a year of writing and starting a memoir using personal photographs as prompts and I suspect that these will find their way onto my Wembley Memories blog, which has been dormant for over two years.

A PS.

The Nottingham Daily Photo blog has Beeston connections and by chance he has chosen a bus photograph he took as his 'Photograph of the Year'.



You can read more and see Christopher Frost's many other excellent photographs by clicking on the link above the photograph.

Café delight and yet another one

On Thursday I finally got to have a coffee in L'Oliva and I have to admit it was a delight — a treat in fact. 

You can see why. A lovely cup of viscous coffee full of flavour for £2 and two 'Scilian treats'. The larger one £1.20 with a coffee filling and the smaller one, 95p, filled with hazelnut chocolate, both delicious.

For a while there was just Susan and me. It was very quiet, then another customer came in. As the photographs below show, the owner has kept the old butcher's interior and used it to good advantage:

The ceiling has been lined with pages from newspapers and periodicals. The café has a spacious feel despite being quite small. With so many cafés in Beeston I am sure you have to be original to prosper and L'Oliva manages that.

You can find L'Oliva on my Beeston Pubs & Cafés Map (see right-hand column). It currently shows 20 cafés and 12 pubs, all of which serve coffee and a good few cake as well!

Talking of competition, yet another one is in the process of being fitted out.

I have no idea when the 'Greenwood Coffee House' will open (next door to Thirnton's chocolate shop) or what its USP (unique selling point) is going to be. I am sure I will find out soon enough.

At the moment The Local not global deli run by Jo on Chilwell Road, opposite its junction with Imperial Road, remains my favourite for light lunches and apple pie, everything in fact, closely followed by Mason & Mason for good cake and the best Mocha I have had in Beeston. I like Costa's Mocha and had one in Waterstone's in the city centre today, but the Beeston Costa plays loud music and that is a real no no with me.

Of the chains, Caffe Nero is the best. The staff are unfailingly cheerful. 

I could go on, because a good few others are a pleasure too, especially the Fusion Café by Cator Lane and is part of Chilwell Creative Corner. A good black Americano and another place for good cake.

Since 2013, when I created the first version of my Underground style diagrammatic map, I have believed Beeston's cafés and pubs should be at the centre of campaigns to pull visitors and shoppers in the town. I am currently working of a new 'spider' version of my map which I plan to launch once the Tram has a start date. I am also planning a 'Beeston Nights' page.

As you can see, Beeston's café scene is alive and well, and continues to grow. I am sure an enterprising post-graduate student could write a thesis about Beeston's cafés, their number, USPs, customer profiles and if there is tipping point and, if so, what is the number — 25, 30?

Cafés in the news: L'Oliva, Edwards and Fusion, plus a word about the White Lion and Sergio

Beeston High Road's newest café, L'Oliva, got its first mention in the Nottingham Post back in February 2015 when the news report said it 'was a few weeks away'. It finally arrived last week and I will sample its coffee in the next day or two. I wish the new owners well, but the shopfront continues to look a little tired, with the old 'Virtual Deli' facia still in place and missing mosaic tiles on the frontage. I hope these things to not deter customers. Walking past today it looked busy.

With so many cafés and bistro type places to choose from, there is plenty of competition. I have updated my Beeston Pubs & Café map (see entry in right-hand column) to include L'Oliva.

Also, My Place café on Wollaton Road became Edwards last week, with a new owner.

Edwards is on the northern approach to Beeston town centre down Wollaton Road from The Nurseryman pub and Derby Road, and is the first café visitors see. There is parking outside. I wish the new owner well. Edwards is within a few minutes of my front door, so it does not figure on my radar, but I would encourage any shop browser to explore Wollaton Road and to have a welcome break at Edwards before returning to the shops in Beeston Town Centre.

Talking of Wollaton Road, the next time you walk down it towards the High Road think about what you would use the great white wall above the card shop to promote. I'm presently using it to promote this blog. 

How about the Beeston Express?

I will end where I started. This time with Fusion Café, which is part of Chilwell Art Corner at the western end of Beeston town centre. I blogged about Creative Corner in January (http://beestonweek.blogspot.co.uk/2015/01/see-creative-corner-and-you-have-arrived.html) and said then that AJ, who runs Fusion Café, made the best coffee in Beeston and I stand by what I said then.

AJ has applied for a license at Fusion to sell alcohol every day from 10am–10pm. There is a large notice in the latest issue of the Beeston Express.

From the front, Fusion looks quite small and is located on the left-hand side of the Mish Mash Gallery. It is, in fact, bigger than it looks, wrapping as it does around the back of the gallery. I hope AJ's application is successful.

He often has private parties who book Fusion and this is clearly an important part of the café's business, so I am sure being able to sell alcohol will make Fusion an even more attractive venue than it already is.

Between March and May this year I facilitated a writing group which met at Fusion thanks to the generosity of AJ. It is a friendly venue and on the few occasions I have been there at weekends, there have always been families inside and mums outside with their buggies and children.

Fusion is the perfect place to start a visit to Beeston town centre if arriving by bus or tram. From here it is a leisurely walk into town and then down the High Road to Humber Road and Broadgate Park, from where you catch the same buses and trams.

I suspect that if I had a mind to this blog could become exclusively about Beeston pubs and cafés. In truth I do not visit them often enough because I never have the time. In my ideal world I would have cake at Fusion and Mason & Mason at least once a week and lunch at the Local Not Global Deli and the White Lion once a week as well. I like large custard tarts from Birds and Home Bakery too.

It is the first Beeston Food and Drink Festival this coming weekend (12–13 June). Unfortunately it clashes with a planned walk and Sunday clashes with the Beeston & Chilwell Garden Trail weekend. I just hope that in the midst of all this activity I will find the time to sample some of the delights on offer.

If you read this and are coming to Beeston this weekend, I urge you to visit the White Lion and the Local Not Global Deli. the folk who run these places are here every week of the year. As far as I am concerned, they make living, eating and drinking in Beeston like having a food festival an all-year event. I will end with a pic I have used before. I think of it as one of my best:

A happy Sergio at the White Lion bringing me and friends cake (real yummy cake)! He does a fantastic fish stew and lots of other good food too, drawing on his Portuguese–Brazilian heritage. If any person should be the face of Beeston food it is Sergio. He has a long letter in the latest edition of the Beeston Express (5 June 2015) about his fight to keep the White Lion open. It is worth reading.

My favourite Beeston deli — a reprise of sorts

Another post so quick, but this is actually taken from my old Lenton based Parkviews blog, which I ended on moving to Beeston in November. It dates from October 2014 and I stand by every word.

Before another word, please follow this link and vote for Beeston's very own  Local not Global Deli in the national Farm Shop & Deli Awards 2015 (NOTE. Voting has closed and the results will be announced in a few months).

Yesterday morning (Thursday) I took myself off early to Beeston and walked down to Chilwell Road, which has been in the news almost daily since work began on The Tram. 'Nearly complete' the Nottingham Post says today. I don't think so.

My destination was the Local not Global Deli, which I have blogged about beforeand is my favourite coffee shop and eatery. It's seven weeks since I was last there, but with no writing class John White and I decided to meet up, as old men do, and talk about our work over cake and coffee for a couple of hours before Susan came to join me for lunch. In the end it turned out to be a most perfect three-and-a-half hours. I will let my photographs tell the story.

10.30am when I arrived and Jo Thomson, the owner, had been hard at work since 6.30am. She does all her own baking and cooking. Cakes to die for, and more about the best small lunch ever in a bit (well it does have one rival, but since the competition is in Derby, I won't mention it). I should have photographed the large slice of poppy seed cake I had with the first of three cups of coffee (believe me it was goood, really gooood!). 

Local not Global was empty when I arrived, so I took this pic. Within minutes, with John first, a steady stream of customers came in and out. Once it emptied right down to John and me again. Chairs were moved about and folk squeezed around tables, elbows touching, eating cake and lunches. It really is that kind of place. I love its atmosphere and everyone loves Jo. When Susan and I left at 2pm, it was empty again. Not for long I'm sure.

From my table I had these view straight down Imperial Road, one of Beeston's finest roads, and once upon time Nottingham City Transport buses terminated here, then waited for passengers to carry back to town. In the late-sixties, Susan would have been one of them. Her first two years at Nottingham University were spent sharing a room in the Chilwell vicarage just a few minutes walk away. This was where Bartonland began and, as if to mark their claim, Barton Transport had their HQ and a large garage just yards to the left. Today the Barton family no longer own the bus company, but they have created the popular Barton Gallery close by.

 John, like me, is someone who chose to make his home nearby. Family ties pull many of us to places and I am sure the fact that Beeston and Chilwell are parts of the large Greater Nottingham metropolitan conurbation make this easier than it would be in some small inward looking town or village.

I have been visiting Beeston and Chilwell Road regularly since the mid-1990s when our shopping habits changed and we began using the Caritas Clinic over Manor Pharmacy, plus the exodus of friends began from Lenton into Beeston and Chilwell. We hope to follow, after nearly six months of prolonged waiting, by the end of October (there, I have said it, but friends have heard all this before, as other moving dates have come and gone. This time though, I really hope it's true).

I enjoy John's company and he is a great poet, who can get verses to rhyme, and I am helping him to compile a collection of his work for friends and family, but he does deserve a wider audience, so here are a couple of his short poems to whet your appetite:

From Toton down to Chilwell

Through Beeston on to city

They're digging holes and laying pipes

Without remorse or pity

Drivers and their passengers

In buses, cars and vans

Sit fuming in their vehicles

Stuck in traffic jams

Two more years of chaos

And when the workers win their battle

We'll enjoy the doubtful privilege

Of travelling like cattle

Herded on at park and ride

With seating for the few

Standing for the many

Who pay the trams their due

It will never make a profit

And is bound to end in tears

When ratepayers have to cough up

To cover the arrears.

J WHITE

and

As we grow older, our parents grow wiser

Grandparents turn positive sages

It's been ever thus since Adam and Eve

And carried on down through the ages

It really is amazing, without any fuss

How much the old folk learn from us.

J WHITE 


When John left, he took with him one of Jo's apple pies. Never leaves without one if he gets the chance. Next time I will have apple pie too.

Now for the lunch I was telling you about (vegetarians look away now). Just look and lick your lips. There is no better Pork Goulash in the land.

This is me, almost a year to the day, eating Jo's goulash. I weighed 14 stone then and with Markiza, our cat having died a few days before, we had just decided to put our house up for sale. It took six weeks cleaning top to bottom before we put it was first advertised, and it was Easter before we got a buyer. It's been a long slow process and very stressful, with the result that I have put 20lbs on since Susan took this photograph. I want to be 14 stone again by the time I'm 71, so I have 34 weeks to do it in!

This final photograph of Jo is bit of a cheat. I took it in 2013 when I posted a blog about Beeston cafés and teashops, but nothing has changed. Whilst not intended as a boast, I do think this blog shows that I am generous soul, true to my belief that we should have the chance to enjoy the best of life, so how could I not share the Localnot global Deli and Jo on Chilwell Road with you?

Finally, if you ignored me the first time, Please don't do it twice. Before another word. Just follow this link and vote for Jo's Local not Global Deli in the national Farm Shop & Deli Awards 2015.